Jethro [SC490] 4G/LTE Unlocked Bar Style Senior Cell Phone for Elderly & Kids, Big Screen and Large Buttons, Hearing Aid Compatible with Charging Dock, FCC Certified., comments, reviews

This is a great phone for my Father-in-law, who is started to decline mentally. Even the flip phone he s had for years had become too complicated for him. He wanted a new phone and this looks upgraded compared to the old flip phone, but is easier for him to use. I especially like the charging dock because he just sets it in there without fumbling with tiny plug into phone anymore. It s a great replacement phone for an older parent. The name Jethro is a little off, just saying. I didn t have an explanation for that brand name to my FIL.

ease of setup. Charged it up and took it to my local AT T store. AT T installed the correct SIM card and assigned a phone number. I added the contact list and delivered to our family member that stays in a nursing home. Do to Covid 19 I could not meet with the family member directly. We had to rely on a window visit. Bottom line she is now in contact with family and friends once again.

I am so happy with my new phone. I was a little hesitant at first to get this phone because I use Verizon, and I have heard the activation can be tricky sometimes. However, it took me less than 5 minutes. All I had to do was read the blog on Jethro s website about Verizon activation, and it was super simple. Thank goodness Jethro listens to the struggles their customers have, otherwise that blog wouldn t exist. I love my new phone! It is super easy to use and didn t cause a huge hole in my pocket.

This is the perfect discipline tool for your kids. My child was failing at school and nothing seemed to work. We took the apps off her iPhone and child locked everything except phone and text. It wasn t until I presented this phone to her that her grades did a complete 180.

Edited 1 21, with: DISAPPOINTED and annoyed nano normal SIM--The actual phone I wanted to replace had a micro-SIM, when either a nano or regular would work out of the box with Verizon, of course it was the only other... Tried to position it according to SIM cutouts on the internet, and it did boot to Verizon, but failed to make or receive calls. Decided to send it back, but then wanted to compare the price of this 3rd line on Verizon to Jethro. It 20 a month to add this emergency line for an old women on Verizon, while Jethro charges 6.47 for an emergency phone. Activated on Jethro... initiates and receives calls perfectly. Still need to test at her place, but T-Mobile is rock-solid in her area. THE REALITY: Have to keep track of another mobile service provider, who fulfill the need of granting an old lazy an emergency line, with a phone with an ACTUAL SOS button that s calls and texts her location. 77.64 a year to secure a phone she can actually USE! THANKS! Upgraded to 5 stars Also, the numeric keypad is backlit. END EDIT Very high contrast white on black LARGE keys are the easiest possible to see; comes come with a charging station--a PLACE for it to rest when at home, hopefully encouraging a pattern (when you leave, pick it up, when you come home, drop into the cradle) , so it stays charged up; Old Fashioned Speed Dialing is supported, just hold down the 2-9 keys to call someone (key 1 is reserved for voice mail); speakers are loud and activating speaker-phone mode takes 1 button press. The SIM slot is an ancient huge one. My phone came with a Jethro nano-SIM in an old-school SIM adaptor. The manual isn t helpful here. Swapping in a Verizon 4G nano SIM was effortless, after I sorted it out--IT WON T JUST PLUG IN, it must replace the existing (white rectangle behind the battery) nano-SIM on the huge SIM adaptor (basically a larger piece of plastic with a cut-out for the nano-SIM). No tool is needed. The SOS feature uses very old (unencrypted) Android Google services, sending rough location--off by around a half mile, but it DOES WORK, when setup properly SOS tries up to 9 contacts: - Calls and demands the answering party press 0 to acknowledge (didn t seem to detect 0 press, but meh) - Sends a text (customizable) and google maps location - If 0 isn t pressed within 15 seconds after answering the call, goes to the next SOS contact Unfortunately, the screen must be active for the SOS feature to work... ve only had it for a few hours to setup before installing an old lady s SIM and handing it off. So far it seems a cheapy made version of the product I want which simply doesn t exist. (No criticism to the manufacturer nor reseller at this price--would have paid much more for an old-school Nokia candybar phone with 4G, but that doesn t exist) Also, the text input method (R9?) is awful useless. When entering text, PRESS 9 and watch the top of the screen to cycle through the more useful methods of typing.

I bought this phone for my mom. She s 80 and very technology challenged (think no computer and can t set a VCR clock type). When she unpacked the gift at Christmas a look of dread came over her face. In less than a half an hour she was using the phone like a pro. It s not an iPhone folks. But it allows her to have a second line of communication while enjoying unlimited long distance talk time with her sisters. She has had nothing but good things to say about the phone since getting it. I know that Jethro has videos up on YouTube showing how you can activate the phone using Verizon s network and their SIM card but I was unable to do that at the local Verizon store so I used Jethro s include SIM card and activated the phone online. It was a simple process. I also called Jethro directly to ask about the plans and an extremely friendly and helpful call person got things sorted out quickly for me. The phone has good service at my mom s house so she has no problem making calls on the network. If you want a simple phone for someone who isn t up to speed on the latest technology, I recommend this phone from Jethro.

Excellent Customer Service! A Type of Person that I remember in the 1960 s, Polite and Very Happy to Help! 100

Note to Verizon Customers. If you already have an active phone with Verizon and you want to replace it with this Jethro phone, all you have to do is swap the SIM card from you current phone into the Jethro phone and turn it on. It will come up and be active on the Verizon network with your same phone number. No worries about IMEI numbers or calling Verizon or anything. Simple, easy peasy.

I bought this phone for my mom because as she is getting older she just needs a simple phone. This phone checked every box and it was really easy to set up. There was a short video on Jethro s website that helped me set the phone up. My mom uses Verizon so we used her Verizon SIM card from her iPhone and put it in the correct frame to be inserted into the Jethro SC490. After the Verizon SIM card was inserted, the phone turned on, we tested it out and it works like a charm! My mom loves her new Jethro phone, and we will definitely use Jethro more in the future!

My dad really needed this! we tried iphone, an Obama phone, even a jitterbug phone but he could never use touch flip phones due to his arthritis in his hands. This jethro phone is not only cool since its named like NCIS Gibbs s great because almost anyone can operate this phone. Meaning that my dad easily transitioned from a tiny blackberry to this phone with no hassle. The charging stand is easy to use but I do recommend sticking it with 3M or velcoro since its very light and can fall off a nightstand if pushed slightly. I took the jethro to T-Mobile and within 25 minutes they created an account and gave my dad a senior plan for only 20 a month! Overall I recommend this phone for anyone looking for a style, large button, easy to set up and use phone. Note: it s a very durable phone against drops!